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Great Kraken
The Great Kraken is the once-flagship of the Iron Fleet of the Iron Islands. Large enough for 400 oars and near as many men at arms, the vessel is a floating fortress bristling with deck mounted weapon installations giving her more than enough firepower to quickly destroy lightly armed craft. The Great Kraken's deadliest tool remains her ramming prow, forged in the shape of a Kraken and affixed to the prow of the ship, the warship can split vessels equal its own size in half with a direct ram to the broadside. History Commissioned by Balon Greyjoy alongside over a hundred other warships that would eventually compose the Iron Fleet. None as large or as grand as the Great Kraken, nor as time consuming to build. Crafted from lumber harvested from Oakmont and iron mined from Harlaw, the vessel was no small engineering feat for the Ironborn even with their shipbuilding prowess. First launched from her berth in 285 AC, the Great Kraken spent the majority of its early life moored in Lordsport, Balon deigned to allow it to see combat without him. Upon his death the vessel passed on to Theon Greyjoy by legal rights, but the Greyjoy remained in Winterfell alongside his new liege Robb Stark. Euron Greyjoy would claim himself Iron King by way of Kingsmoot, however he captained his own ship Silence, again leaving Great Kraken to defend Pyke during the War of the Five Kings. He soon found himself outmatched and requested the Kraken along with the remainder of the Iron Fleet, but his niece Asha Greyjoy worked alongside her uncle Rodrik Harlaw and now father-in-law Gerold Goodbrother to usurp Euron's power at home. This culminated in the death of Euron following the Battle of the Shields. Asha would go on to crown herself Iron Queen briefly, before immediately bending the knee to the Kingdom of the North, and relinquishing her crown. This ensured peace and safety for the Iron Islands in the immediate future, and the Great Kraken continued to languish in port. It was not until decades later that the Great Kraken would finally find a proper owner, and a purpose. Andrik Greyjoy had come of age, and become disenfranchised with the current way life had progressed on the Iron Isles. Unwilling to rebel against his mother or his kinsmen, he simply decided to leave. The Kraken had been a drain on resources for years, too large a vessel to maintain in peacetime, but also too big an investment to merely dismantle. Ever pragmatic, Asha granted the warship to her son, wishing him well in his journey. Andrik and his crew departed for the Stepstones where they would be free to reave and raid beyond all law of Westeros. Since that day the Great Kraken has been Andrik Greyjoy's home away from home, sailing for ports and waters stretching from Braavos to New Ghis. She has raided and sunk everything from pirates, smugglers, merchant traders, sellsails, and everything in between in her plunder of the seas. No vessel is safe, and few lack the combination of speed and strength to match the Ironborn warship in a one on one fight. The exemplar Captain and his veteran crew ensure that no man survives a duel with the Great Kraken. Category:House Greyjoy Category:Ships